The Night that Was:
It was an always-heated matchup between the Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins last night. The B’s opened the scoring in the first when Benoit Pouliot scored his sixth, before Tomas Plekanec tied it up at one from the doorstep. David Krejci would make it 2-1 Bruins in the second before Brad Marchand converted a beautiful saucer pass from Tyler Seguin, capping it with a beautiful move, for a 3-1 lead. The Habs got close with Erik Cole’s 13th at 18:46, but that was it. Tim Thomas made 33 saves for the win as a 28-save effort from Carey Price fell by the wayside.
Things haven’t been going well for the Ducks lately, and as a team they didn’t get any better last night. Dallas opened the scoring 9:06 into the first when Brenden Morrow scored his 7th, and before the second period was two minutes old, Alex Goligoski and Mike Ribeiro made it 3-0 on the power play. The Ducks would storm back to tie it before the period was up with goals from Teemu Selanne, Lubomir Visnovsky and Nick Bonino’s first of the season. With the score tied, Michael Ryder and Eric Nystrom both chipped in with their elevenths in the third period, sealing a 5-3 win. Morrow, Ribeiro, and Loui Eriksson all finished with multiple point nights, while Selanne, Visnovsky and Cam Fowler did the same for the Ducks. Jonas Hiller took the loss, moving to 8-14-5, the first season he might ever finish below .500, as Richard Bachman made 25 saves to move to 4-1.
The Red Wings continued to roll last night as they visited the Edmonton Oilers. Dan Cleary scored his eighth four minutes in to give the Wings the lead, before the second period exploded with scoring. Ryan Jones’ 11th tied it at one, Jiri Hudler gave the Wings the lead again, and Jordan Eberle tied it up with just one second left in the period. It would stay tied for the first 15 minutes of the third before Drew Miller scored the winner, his sixth, at 15:46. The Wings’ 3-2 win was backstopped by 21 saves from Jimmy Howard, who became the first goalie to 20 wins this season…he’s on pace for an unbelievable 51.
Looking to gain some ground against the division-leading Wild, Vancouver deployed the red-hot Roberto Luongo last night. Bobby Lu made 13 saves in the first as Henrik Sedin scored with 1:08 left in the first frame to give the ‘Nucks a 1-0 lead. Ryan Kesler and Alex Burrows would add goals in the second, and Jannik Hansen scored his 11th in the third period to support Luongo, who made 33 saves for the shutout. Thanks to three-point nights from both Henrik (1g/2a) and Daniel (3a) Sedin, the Canucks are now three points out of first in the Northwest.
Philadelphia was hoping for another win last night as they traveled to Colorado, so they could stay up on the Bruins in the East. Things started well when Scott Hartnell’s 16th gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead. Halfway through the second though, rookie Gabriel Landeskog scored his sixth of the season, and seven minutes later TJ Galiardi’s fifth gave the Avs the 2-1 lead (Brad Malone recorded his first NHL point, assisting on the goal). It’d take the Flyers a long time before they’d tie it, but Wayne Simmonds would get his tenth at 19:41, sending things to overtime and then a shootout. In the shootout, all five that took to the ice scored, leaving it up to Matt Read to send it to extra-shooters. Read couldn’t do it though, and the Avs held on to a 3-2 win. Hartnell was the only player to finish with multiple points (1g/1a), while Ilya Bryzgalov made 25 saves and J.S. Giguere made 31 stops.
The Kings and Leafs hooked up for a rare one in Toronto last night, and after the first period it was tied at one thanks to Justin Williams and John-Michael Liles. Dustin Brown’s seventh was the only one of the second period, but it wasn’t too far into the third that Matt Frattin tied it on a cross-ice pass from Mikhail Grabovski. Overtime passed by scoreless, and the first five shooters did so as well before Brown scored the winner, giving the Kings the 3-2 victory. James Reimer and Jonathan Quick dueled last night, with Quick making 31 saves and Reimer making 40, yet ending up on the losing end. Liles now has points in each of his last three games while Bozak has at least a point in four of his last five games.
What’s on Tonight?
Early night in the NHL tonight as everything’s on by 9:00. The New York Rangers slide over to New Jersey, Nashville hits up Washington, Chicago travels to Pittsburgh, and Buffalo goes to meet Kyle Turris and the Ottawa Senators. Phoenix and Florida hook up under the Southern sun, the Islanders travel to Winnipeg where the Jets are 11-5, and Minnesota wraps up back-to-backs in Calgary.
The Injury Bug:
-You can add another concussion to the list, as the Maple Leafs announced yesterday that they will be without winger Colby Armstrong indefinitely. Armstrong suffered the concussion Saturday night vs the Canucks and neglected to tell the team.
-Bryan Little didn’t practice yesterday and a foot injury has him questionable for tonight’s game between the Jets and Islanders.
-Mikko Koivu’s return is slated as ‘possible’ tonight. Koivu has missed the last two games with a leg injury. He skated yesterday however.
-Brent Seabrook has an ‘upper body injury’, but it doesn’t seem as serious as some of the other ‘U-B-Ds’ out there. Seabrook suffered the injury Sunday when he was boarded by Rene Bourque, and while he’s questionable for tonight, he has made the trip with the team to Pittsburgh.
News and Rumours Around the League:
-Milan Lucic missed Boston’s game last night as Brendan Shanahan suspended the bruising Bruins’ winger for one game. Lucic was suspended for a hit on Philadelphia’s Zac Rinaldo.
-The Calgary Flames will also be without a winger for the next few games. Rene Bourque was suspended for two games for his hit on Brent Seabrook. Bourque was given a boarding penalty for his hit and a game misconduct at the time.
-The NHL announced their three stars for the week: Jason Spezza of Ottawa, Pekka Rinne of Nashville, and Evgeni Malkin took home the honours.
The Overlooked Fantasy Line(s) of the Night:
Jean-Sebastien Giguere and James Reimer both had good nights, both of them ending in shootouts, and both ending differently. Giguere made 31 saves in his 3-2 shootout win over Philadelphia, while Reimer made 40 saves in a 3-2 shootout loss to L.A.
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